A small grocery chain from the Pacific Northwest will take over seven Albertsons locations in the South Bay and Harbor Area by late April as it continues its march into the Southern California supermarket landscape.

Haggen is making a huge expansion into California, Nevada and Arizona after Cerberus Capital Management, which owns Albertsons, purchased Vons parent company Safeway in a $9.4 billion deal last year.

The Federal Trade Commission required the merger partners to sell off some of their stores and Haggen jumped at the chance to increase its store footprint by 811 percent.

Haggen Inc., which has 18 stores in Washinton and Oregon, purchased 146 Albertons, Pavillions, Vons and Safeway stores, including 83 in California.

Bill Shaner, Haggen’s new regional CEO for the Southwest, emphasized that Haggen is a full-service grocery store and not a boutique store. Shaner said Haggen stores blend elements of traditional stores like Albertsons and Vons with aspects of higher-end stores like Whole Foods and Gelson’s.

“Customers don’t have the hassle of going to have to go to two or three stores to get the products they want,” he said.

Shaner said the new stores will be priced competitively with Albertsons and Vons stores already in the region. In addition to big brand-name products, the stores will feature fresh, organically grown produce, and locally produced products.

“We think our position is unique in the marketplace because we are combining, we think, the best of all worlds, from conventional to specialty, natural and organic supermarkets,” Shaner said. “Haggen combines the best of all worlds under one roof.”

Haggen began converting stores in late March and will continue through May. All seven South Bay and Harbor Area Albertsons — three in Redondo Beach, two in San Pedro and one each in Torrance and Lomita — will be converted by the end of April. Stores in Culver City and Mar Vista also will change over in late April.

Haggen officials said once an Albertsons closes, it will reopen two days later as a Haggen supermarket.

Shoppers at the Albertons in Torrance seemed unperturbed by the change.

“A chain is a chain is a chain,” said Bryan Johnson, an emergency room nurse from Long Beach.

Johnson, who was eating a pile of fruits and vegetables that he had just purchased, said he was buying more of his food from grocery stores since suffering a heart attack in December.

He was excited by the idea of a grocery store that sells more fresh food, since a plant-based diet has helped him lose 50 pounds.

“I’m trying to eat more things that grow and less things that walk,” he said.

The Albertsons in Gardena will remain under the newly combined Safeway/Albertsons company.

Neil Nisperos has been a reporter covering everything from business to education, courts, politics, city government, features, arts and entertainment since 1999. On social media, he has a combined following of about 25,300 people over various apps and platforms. He's passionate about the cinema, science, philosophy, poetry, art, photography, culture, literature and history. He feels fortunate to be in the profession that keeps power in check, memorializes people's stories for posterity and helps people with useful information.